Saturday, 30 July 2011

Racing against Thyme...

The trip to Kinabalu was largely done with the motor running, the only real excitement was provided by the Malaysian armed forces.

As we were not part of the rally or the race we anchored just south of the marina on our arrival. The next day the race organizers convinced us to do the Kota Kinabalu races therefore be entitled to free marina usage for 5 days. Count us in.

Even though the wind was practically none existent we headed out for our first ever race in Thyme. The course was shortened and we drifted around, coming a respectable 3rd for our class. I don’t think anyone spotted my small mistake of in my excitement of putting the inner jib on upside down.

I woke up early the next morning to the noise of the wind in the rigging. The afternoon races were anything but lacking in wind. Being only the 2 of us we had our hands full getting around the course and seriously considered reefing the main at one point. We were rewarded with a 2nd for our efforts and as the boat that came 3rd was still a long way back, this put as second over all. At the dinner and prize giving we picked up our first silverware… maybe I need to build a trophy cabinet?

Once our 5 days were up we moved out back on anchor even though a swell was still coming in from the earlier weather. The roll although acceptable was a bit much after the marina so I scouted a new spot with the sounder in the dingy. This found us later that afternoon up a canal, tied up to large traditional boat just across from town.